It’s been a quiet month here at Appetite for China. I must apologize. The past few weeks have been stressful, to say the least. I finally turned in my manuscript in late September (yay!), only to fly to China bright and early the following morning for a two-week stay. My dad, unfortunately, is in the hospital, and I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. If you’ve never met him, rest assured he’s an incredible person, not to mention a wiz in the kitchen. He’s the man responsible for teaching me, among life’s many important lessons, how to make the best Cantonese roast pork ever and some equally drool-worthy scallion pancakes. I really hope he pulls through.
Between my book and extended travels, I haven’t had time to develop new recipes for the site as I had hoped. But I do want to share with you a terrific recipe for stir-fried collard greens from The Essential New York Times Cookbook
I’m used to collard greens stewed Southern-style, so I was curious how the greens would be different as a Cantonese stir-fry. According to the headnote, the recipe comes from the Chow family in Clarksdale, Mississippi, whose ancestors settled in the Mississippi Delta in the early 1900s. As I previously wrote in my post on Chinese Grocery Roast Pork, the Mississippi Delta is home to quite a big group of Chinese-Americans, who settled there after heading east after the Gold Rush. The family started stir-frying collard greens because bok choy and other Chinese greens weren’t available in the earlier days. But that’s not the only ingredient they put a creative spin on. In this Times article on the Chows, the family also makes delectable-sounding crayfish, catfish, and fried rice with bacon.
The challenge here was how to get tender collard greens with the shorter cooking time of inherent in stir-frying. I made the greens twice over two days. The recipe in the book specifies stir-frying the greens alone for one minute but is a little ambiguous about how long to cook it after adding the seasonings. The first time I followed the Times recipe exactly, but the greens seems a little too rough and chewy. The next time, I decided to trim the leave smaller and extend to cooking time a smidgen. I also diluted the oyster sauce, since it’s a little thick right out of the bottle.
The result was great. I went back for seconds, then thirds. They’re still not as tender as stewed Southern collard greens, but delicious in their own right, with oomph in the body like lightly cooked kale. Try it just once, and you’d be hooked too. And if you like your greens spicy, add a bit of crushed red pepper flakes.
Do you have another favorite way of cooking collard greens?
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Stir-fried Collard Greens
Serves 4
2 1/2 to 3 pounds collard greens
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oyster sauce, mixed with 2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
- Wash the collard greens and trim the hard ends off. Cut the leaves into small pieces, approximately 2 inches by 2 inches.
- Prepare a large bowl of ice water and set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Working in 2 or 3 batches, blanch the greens for 1 minute (begin counting after the water returns to a boil.) Immediately transfer the greens to the ice water to cool. Drain well, then squeeze out the excess water with your hands. Spread the greens on kitchen towels and pat them dry, as the excess water will cause the oil in the wok to spit. Repeat with the remaining batch(es).
- Heat a wok over medium-high heat until a drop of water evaporates on contact. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom. Add the garlic and stir-fry until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the greens and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in the oyster sauce mixture, sugar, and optional red pepper flakes. Lower the heat to medium-low and allow the greens to cook for another 3 to 4minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer the greens to a plate and serve.
Adapted from The Essential New York Times Cookbook.
Hoping for the best for your dad. Rest assured, a break in blog posts won’t scare your readers away.
all the best to you and your father!
Xiexie ni!
I made this last night! It was so delicious and easy! And I agree, the New York Times cookbook is great, especially the vegetable and cookie sections!
Wishing your dad a speedy recovery!
xo
Thanks for sharing the recipe. Hope your dad get better soon.
I love stir-frying collard greens too. here if i don’t feel like the drive to asian markets, i just go to regular markets, get some collard greens/turnip greens and stir-fry them!
Hope you dad will get better soon!
I am hoping everything goes better for your dad.
Thanks for posting a veggie recipe…I have not had collard greens lately and I am excited to try what you have posted. Looking forward to more posts!
This sounds delicious–I will try it out soon. I eat collards frequently, and am also accustomed to the southern braised style. I also enjoy them in a slaw with bacon, pecans, raisins and shallots; or cooked in the style of palak paneer.
I’ve never tried collard greens before but have been on the lookout for recipes to try it with! Seems like I’ve found one!
What if you steamed the collards lightly before stir frying? I think that would make them a little less chewy.
This recipe looks really good. Ever since I moved in with my SO’s family, I’ve sorely missed my leafy greens. Day in and day out, we eat a lot of pre-packaged an pre-made foods, you know, the stereotypical American food. Every time I get the chance to go out to a Chinese restaurant with my family, i end up pigging out on the veggies. A question, though. What else can I use aside from oyster sauce? it’s my first time using these vegetables.
Iris – You can use hoisin sauce, fish sauce, or even sesame oil in place of the oyster sauce. Each one will result in a slightly different flavor, but they’re all quite tasty!